At Bigfoot Arts Education, we believe that creative expression can play a vital role in supporting emotional wellbeing. This year, we were privileged to be part of the Here For You Bereavement Programme, a compassionate initiative created by The Worry Wizard®, in partnership with Reuben’s Retreat and funded by the Blue Sky Foundation. Together, we used the power of drama, storytelling, and play to help families begin open, gentle conversations about love, loss, and healing.
Creative Learning Meets Emotional Wellbeing
The Here For You workshops were designed as safe, nurturing spaces where children and adults could come together to explore their feelings through shared stories and activities. Led by The Worry Wizard’s therapeutic team alongside Bigfoot’s experienced drama practitioner Adrian Benn, families took part in creative exercises inspired by the story Together Not Alone. These sessions encouraged emotional literacy and helped families build resilience through imagination, collaboration, and empathy, skills that are at the heart of Bigfoot’s educational ethos.
Supporting the Whole Child
Our role in this partnership highlighted how drama can be used as a bridge between emotional and cognitive learning. Through role play, movement, and reflective storytelling, families learned new ways to communicate their feelings , tools that can be carried into the classroom and beyond. Parents reported feeling more connected to their children, while young participants described feeling “safe, involved, and understood.” These outcomes mirror the work we strive to bring to every school: nurturing confident, expressive learners who feel heard and valued.
A Model for School Communities
Programmes like Here For You demonstrate how arts education can play a crucial role in supporting pupils’ mental health and wellbeing. For schools, this approach offers a creative and accessible framework for PSHE and emotional literacy provision, complementing classroom learning with experiences that foster empathy and resilience. As one parent shared, “Here for You was such a great session that gently and subtly allowed us to explore our feelings, emotions and behaviours towards our grief as a family.”
Continuing Our Commitment
Bigfoot Arts Education is proud to collaborate with organisations that share our mission to raise standards in education through creativity. Our involvement in Here For You reaffirmed our belief that drama and storytelling are powerful tools for healing, helping children process complex emotions in safe, imaginative ways. We look forward to continuing this work with schools, ensuring every child has the chance to feel seen, supported, and inspired.
You can download the Impact report for the this collaborative project HERE
